Man Down
by garbygal
Summary: Birkhoff's been nabbed by Amanda. Will the rest of the team be able to rescue him before Amanda destroys him beyond their recognition?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Seymour Birkhoff walked slowly down the cold winter street. Normally he would be in Division working but after that evening's horrible events, he knew that he just had to get out of there for a while. It was a chilly night, Birkhoff pulled the collar of his jacket tight to his neck. The cloudy sky made the night dark. Angrily he shoved his hands in her pockets as he continued to walk.

The night had started off normally but after dinner, instead of heading to his room for a movie, Sonya had asked to talk. Things weren't working, she explained. They just hadn't been right. It was time to move on. Birkhoff just didn't understand. He thought things were going well. After Sonya had left, he got into his car and drove. When he found himself in New York City, he parked and started to just walk. Sure it wasn't the best place to walk alone at night, but he wasn't thinking clearly.

There had already been a lot of life in Birkhoff's semi-young life. Luckily this wasn't that kind of loss, but it was still a loss and still unsettling. He walked quickly trying to work off his frustration. So distracted by emotions, Birkhoff didn't hear footsteps following behind him in a steady pattern, occasionally splashing in puddles left from the rain earlier in the day. Birkhoff's first hint something was wrong came when the hair on his arms suddenly stood up on end. He had no chance to respond when a sudden blow to the back of his head dropped him to the semi-wet cement, unconscious. A van pulled up and two more people got out, pulling the unconscious tech into it. "That was a lot easier than I thought." Amanda laughed, pulling the van out into traffic and driving away.

Awhile later in Operations, Sonya announced, "Michael, we have a problem."

Michael, who was standing in front of Operations, turned towards Sonya. "What is it?" he asked, walking back towards her station.

"Birkhoff's tracker has gone off-line." She reported back to him.

Finding it strange that Sonya had referred to him as Birkhoff instead of Seymour as she normally did. He shook it off as a lover's spat and asked, "When's the last time you had him?'

Punching a few buttons, Sonya reported, "Tracker last online twenty minutes ago near Times Square."

Michael scratched his head. "What is he doing there?"

"He was upset. I think he went out to burn off some anger." Sonya replied.

It didn't take a genius to figure out between Sonya's change in use of his name and the fact she knew he was angry to figure out she had broken up with him. Michael felt bad for Birkhoff and part of him wished Birkhoff would have come to him about it instead of going wandering off. "Do we have any surveillance video?"

A couple of techs punched at their stations trying to pull up video. Meanwhile Michael keyed his earpiece. "Nikita, Ryan, we need you in Ops. We have a problem."

"Be right there." Ryan replied, almost instantly appearing in Ops from his office.

"What's up?" Nikita asked over the radio.

"Come up to Ops and I'll let you know." Michael didn't want to say it over the radio and freak out all of Division.

"what's going on?" Ryan asked, coming over to Michael.

"Birkhoff is missing. His tracker went offline twenty minutes ago in New York City." Michael reported.

Shock covered Ryan's face. "What?"

"I have something." One of the techs announced, instantly pulling surveillance video up onto the big screens at the front of the room.

Michael instantly recognized Birkhoff's shadowy figure at the top of the image. "Play it." Michael and Ryan walked towards the screen.

Everyone in Operations quietly watched as Birkhoff's shadowy figure trudged down the sidewalk. It was obvious that when the shadowy figure appeared behind him, Birkhoff had not been aware of it. Operation was practically silent as they watched Birkhoff get knocked unconscious and then dragged into the back of a van. "Nerd?" Nikita's voice broke through the silence as everyone watched in horror.

"Everyone, we have a new mission." Michael explained, "We need to rescue Birkhoff. I need you to try and isolate the pictures of the driver of the van and to try to find who kidnapped him." He announced, ever though they all had a gut feeling that it had been Amanda. "then we need you to try and find out where that van is now."

As the techs began to search for Birkhoff, Nikita, Ryan and Michael stood in the middle of the room. "How did this happen?" Nikita asked.

"It appears Sonya may have broken up with him and he didn't take it well. He drove for a while then got out to walk it off and somehow he was abducted." Michael explained the situation to Nikita and Ryan.

"Poor Nerd." Nikita replied, her head hung down.

"Why would anyone want Birkhoff?" Ryan asked.

"He's a genius.' Michael replied, "He can do all kinds of things for someone who kidnaps him."

Nikita and Ryan knew this was true. With the mind games Amanda could play she could really screw with Birkhoff too. They had to find him and rescue him before anything bad could happen. "This is not good." Nikita was clearly looking at it the same way that Michael was.

"What's going on?" Alex and Sean came running in. "We heard over the radio that there may be some major problem."

Michael nodded in confirmation. "Birkhoff's been grabbed."

"B? By Amanda?" Alex asked, knowing firsthand the damage Amanda could inflict.

"That's our guess." Ryan replied, looking at Sean, then Alex, both of them completely shocked.

"We've gotta find him!"

When Birkhoff woke up, the back of his head was throbbing. Slowly everything came back to him- Sonya's dumping him, then driving and walking around before being kidnapped. He tried to move but his arms and legs were both tied to a bed frame. Looking around the room, he had no idea where he was. The room was dark, but he could see enough to tell he was in a big, empty space and that he was alone. It honestly reminded him a lot of Nikita's original lair when she took him hostage in the beginning.

Birkhoff had no idea what to do. He was tied down, he hadn't told anyone where he was going and he had no idea where he was. On top of that he had no idea what his captor would want. Sure there were a lot of things he could do for them, but that left a bunch of options for what they would want him for. The scarier part of the question was what they would do to him to get what they want.

The door opened slowly, but Birkhoff couldn't see who had entered. A shutter went down his spine as he heard heels clicking on the cement floor, reminding him of one specific person. He realized when he saw a young woman approach him, not Amanda. "Hi Birkhoff, I'm Charlotte." She introduced herself with a condescending tone that also reminded him of Amanda.

"Hi Charlie." He didn't care if he pissed her off, in fact he was trying for it.

"I prefer Charlotte." She calmly replied, not giving him an inch. By her demeanor Birkhoff could instantly tell who it was she was working for.

"What am I doing here?" Birkhoff questioned her.

"What aren't you here for?" Charlotte cockily replied. "We'll get to that later though. How is your head?"

"Why do you care?" he asked, definitely not in the mood for small talk.

"You're going to be here awhile, so you may as well make it pleasant." Charlotte replied.

"That's what you think." Birkhoff replied in his typically cocky manor. "I have a lot of friends who will be looking for me."

Shrugging her shoulders, Charlotte replied, "You won't be found. At least, not until we want them to find you."

"You underestimate my friends." Birkhoff replied.

"You," she leaned down into Birkhoff's face, "Underestimate us."

Birkhoff gave her a cocky smile but was rewarded with a sick thwap across his face from the butt of her gun. His head shot to the side, then he pulled his head back up, blood gushing from his laps, his jaw completely sore, if not broken. "If you think that's going to upset me, you're dead wrong." Birkhoff spit out some of the blood pouring into his mouth.

"Don't worry." She replied, "We have so much more in store for you. I hear you've had your right hand crushed before."

Birkhoff immediately knew that statement had confirmed his worst fear- Amanda was behind this. He didn't get much of a chance to process that information before Charlotte brought down the butt of her gun onto his right hand. IF the first time breaking it had been bad, the second time was at least ten times worse. As Birkhoff screamed in pain, she calmly walked over and lift the gun, slamming it down onto his other hand and causing his screams to get even louder. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes at the intensity of the pain. "Why are you doing this to me?" he looked up at her.

"Don't worry," she said with a laugh, "We'll get you fixed up, but we have to show you who's in charge. I hope I won't have to remind you again, I won't be so gentle next time."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ryan, Michael, Nikita Alex and Sean stood in Operations, staring at the image that the techs had enhanced. In the passenger side of the car sat Amanda, smiling as the van rove away. Now they had confirmed that Amanda was involved. It was a matter of finding out where she had brought Birkhoff and what specifically she wanted him for. "How could she grab him?" Nikita said what they were all thinking. "How could she know he'd be out there alone? It wasn't a planned event."

Everyone looked back and forth without any ideas. She could have been tracking his car, but not him- there was no way she could be tracking him or they would have caught it. They had taken out his original tracker and Amanda never had access to their new tracker information. It was shocking enough that Amanda had monitored them close enough to catch when Birkhoff was alone when she grabbed him. "Have we gotten any clues about where Amanda might be?" Michael asked.

Ryan, who had followed up with the tech answered, "The techs have been unable to find anything. They have checked all her usual places; they've looked for the usual signs, but so far nothing."

"Nothing?" Nikita questioned. "They have found absolutely nothing?"

Slowly Ryan shook his head as he frowned. "Nothing." He repeated. "And Birkhoff is the one that trained these techs."

"They couldn't track the van" Alex asked.

Ryan again shook his head. "They used a diversion. They met up with two other vans, making it impossible to determine where they took him. Each of those three vans met up with three more- several times."

"How could Amanda get that all into place? This is insane!" Michael replied.

When Birkhoff woke up, both of his hands were throbbing in pain. Charlotte had bandaged them up, but they still hurt like hell. Cautiously he opened his eyes to survey the damage. Both hands were completely crushed. "Great." He groaned.

"Ah, Birkhoff, you're awake."

Birkhoff immediately recognized the voice. "Oh no." Birkhoff replied to himself.

"Oh yes Birkhoff. You are mind now. You are going to pay for working with Nikita and Michael." Amanda taunted him, coming into his view.

"Just kill me Amanda. You know I am not going to tell you a damn thing."

Amanda walked closer to Birkhoff in front of his chair where he could see her. "I don't want to know anything." A smug look crossed her face. "I told you this is not about that- it's about pain, torture and punishment."

Nodding her head, a young man came over and ripped Birkhoff's t-shirt off. "What the hell was that?" Birkhoff protested angrily.

Grabbing a metal pole, Birkhoff barely saw the glowing end before it hit his bare chest. Birkhoff let out a horrific scream of pain. Sharp pain radiated from where she had poked the poker into his chest. It felt like he was on fire. The pain and heat radiated through his chest and neck. "That is for your betrayal to me."

When Amanda pulled the metal from his chest, Birkhoff looked at the horrible burn it had left on his chest. "What are you doing to me?" Birkhoff questioned her, angered by the burn.

"I told you. It's time for revenge." Amanda replied. "You are gonna do work for me so I can find your little friends."

"What are you insane?" Birkhoff half-groaned and half-yelled. "I'm not going to rat out my friends."

Amanda grabbed another pole from the fire that Birkhoff now noticed and walked behind him. Without another word, she drove the pole into the back of Birkhoff's opposite shoulder. Birkhoff screamed again in pain. "This keeps up until you help me."

Glaring at her, Birkhoff replied, "Then keep it coming bitch."

Amanda cracked Birkhoff across the face with the pole. His nose made a sickening crack and he felt the blood trickling down his face. Walking around the chair next to him, Amanda grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head up so he was looking at her. "I will break you. You are weak, Seymour Birkhoff." She told him, "You will be begging to do my work to stop the pain."

"Just keep telling yourself that." Birkhoff looked away from her.

"Your friends won't find you. They don't even have a lead." Amanda was so close to Birkhoff now he could feel her breath against his cheek. "You are stuck. Think back to what you use to be- the selfish creature you used to be. Why protect friends that will never be able to save you?"

"Face it Amanda- Nikita will always beat you. Every time, every place, Nikita will always beat you."

Amanda didn't even flinch, her face remained like stone. She stood up and turned around, signaling her workers. A pair of men grabbed Birkhoff roughly under his arms and threw him onto the cold, damp floor. Until the men started putting him into cuffs built into the floor, Birkhoff hadn't even noticed them there. His stomach pressed into the bare floor they stretched out his arms and legs as far as they could go- to the point it began to be painful. When Birkhoff, unable to see anything but the floor, heard a whip crack in the background his heart began to pound. He struggled against the shackles but he couldn't move an inch. The whip cracked across his back, Birkhoff letting out a muffled scream as the pain sharply stung through his back. After a while the whips began to hurt less as his nerves began to be overloaded by the pain.

Almost immediately after Amanda stopped whipping him, he was ripped up off the floor without warning. Things were starting to get hazy, probably from the loss of blood. The two goons lifted Birkhoff to his knees. In the haze, Birkhoff saw Amanda signal down with her fingers. Before his brain could process what was happening, one of the goons shoved his head under water in a tub in front of him. He held his breath as long as he could before his lungs began to burn. Kicking and struggling, Birkhoff tried to get his head out of the water, but the goon had him held under by his neck. As he struggled, Birkhoff could feel every one of the goon's five fingers around his neck. Starting to feel weak, Birkhoff figured they would hold him under until he passed out, but suddenly his head whipped out of the water and his lungs automatically drew in a huge breath of air causing Birkhoff to start coughing. "Are you going to help me?" Amanda demanded.

"No." Birkhoff coughed out his response.

Again his head was underwater before he could comprehend what was going on. This time things went quicker as Birkhoff weakened each time they held him under shorter and shorter until Birkhoff was on the verge of passing out. He couldn't even hold his head up as they threw him back hard against the floor Gurgling Birkhoff was having trouble expelling the liquid from his lungs. "Keep thinking about helping me." Amanda walked over and taunted Birkhoff- even though all he could see were her shoes. "This is only the beginning- the weak stuff. I will break you- it's only a matter of time and how much pain you want to endure before you end up doing it anyway."

"You won't win." Birkhoff responded.

"Yes I will." Amanda confidently responded. She walked up to Birkhoff's crushed hand and drove her shoe heel into it, causing Birkhoff to scream in agony. "You are selfish man Seymour Birkhoff. When push comes to shove you will give up your friends for a stop to the pain and your life."

Feeling weak and knowing he was about to pass out, Birkhoff slowly looked up at Amanda through his wet and bloody hair hanging clumped over his eyes. "Never." He responded as he passed out.

"Charlotte!" Amanda called for her second in command.

"Yes." Charlotte came over, quickly scanning over the passed out tech.

"Can you tie him back up? Prepare for the next phase. We will get him to do what we want." Amanda directed her.

"Sure." Charlotte watched as Amanda left. Carefully she locked Birkhoff's hands and then feet into the cuffs. Using a scissor she cut off his blue jeans- for the next step Amanda wanted as much skin as possible exposed. Charlotte was tempted to clean the blood from his wounds, but Amanda liked to see the dried bloody wounds. Charlotte did a quick survey to make sure none of his wounds were too sever- Amanda didn't want him to die- she wanted the pain and torture to carry on as long as possible.

Once they had made sure he was okay, they all left the room, locking him in. "I can't believe we finally got him." One of the goons commented.

"How so?" Charlotte was confused. She had not known about this plot for more than two weeks.

"We've been waiting for an opportunity to do this for almost two years. This is the first time one of them was alone where we could grab them.  
As the guys walked away, Charlotte was shocked to hear they had been plotting this for so long. It really scared her what they may have in place for Birkhoff. If they had been plotting it for so long, who knows what they had planned for him.


End file.
